


Encounter At Dusk

by Katherine



Category: The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Genre: Gen, xenofelinoid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1997-03-15
Updated: 1997-03-15
Packaged: 2017-10-03 00:44:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine/pseuds/Katherine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yotha loped across the Martian sands at dusk, her pale orange-yellow pelt blending in with her surroundings almost perfectly. She was vaguely feline in form...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Encounter At Dusk

Yotha loped across the Martian sands at dusk, her pale orange-yellow pelt blending in with her surroundings almost perfectly. She was vaguely feline in form, somewhat reminiscent of one of Terra's Cheetahs. Her six legs had the look of elegant power, and each paw included the same permanently extended claws for traction at high speeds. Her long, thin tail was held out stiffly behind her for balance, but Yotha did not need the lazily moving tail of a Terran cat to display who she was. There are only so many paths evolution can take, even on another world, and Yotha was clearly an efficient predator. She moved with the easy grace of a hunter, not using any more energy than was necessary, conserving for the hunt when a single misjudgment could mean a few hungry days, or death from starvation.

Yotha did indeed intend to hunt. She had travelled for quite a distance from the lush jungle that was her home, but never strayed from her chosen route along the canals. It was a journey she had made before, although the most recent time had been more than three years before. She was always careful to leave a long interval between her excursions—long enough for her upright, brown skinned quarry to forget about the creature that had come upon them, and for a while, had caused terror. Yotha's yellow coin eyes gleamed and her claws dug in for a moment, furrowing the sand, as she remembered _that_.

The cat-like hunter had an ability, common although little considered among her kind. Earthmen had called it telempathy, or telepathy, but of course Yotha knew nothing of that. Telepathy could cross language barriers, so perhaps if Yotha had tried she would have been able to cross the species barrier also, and hear the thoughts of another people. But she never attempted to do so. To her, the random thoughts she picked up were simply an irritant, like buzzing flies too small to displace. On sensing them, she always shook her head in a subconscious attempt to free herself from the annoyance.

Suddenly Yotha realised what was making her uneasy. On her previous journeys, she had always begun to sense the 'buzzings' by the time she reached this area. The fact that she had not made her hesitant, but after consindering, she decided to keep going. She had waited long enough for this journey, and would go through with it.

Some time later, her objective came into sight. The huntress smiled inwardly as she took in the silvery-white buildings, with their crystal windows winking in the intermittent light of dusk. She had arrived. Almost without thinking, she began to move more slowly, the easy lope of travel becoming the fluid motions of a practiced stalker.

Yotha hesitated once more as she was about to enter the city. It seemed still, and quiet, much more so than on her previous visits. But she pushed back the momentary apprehension. After all, what if it was? That would only make things easier.

Locating an open window was a simple task. The ledge was on the inside, but that did not pose a significant problem. The opening was large, and not far above the ground: an easy jump. Yotha leapt for the window. Her front paws caught at the inner sill, and then she pulled easily herself up with the power in the two remaining pairs of legs. Only a moment passed, and she dropped lightly and silently inside onto all six padded feet.

Her nostrils flared as she took in her surroundings. The place smelled wrong. There should have been a warm scent of growing plants and misty, living walls, but there was only a crisp dryness, and a sharp tang of ashy smoke. Yotha sniffed again, and moved to a corner, where the smell was sharpest. She could see a pile of dry black flakes. Something clicked in her mind—this was what was left of her prey. Something very strange must have had happened to them, to kill them in such a way. She lowered her head, examining the remains more closely.

Abruptly Yotha started, lifting her head and turning to look towards the triangular doorway. She was not sure what had alerted her, but knew to trust her hunter's instincts. She thought back, and realised what it was. _The buzzing._ Strong this time, and clear. One or two causing it, no more. She tensed, watching the doorway fixedly. A creature stepped through.

The two-legged figure was much taller than her prey. The eyes were different, also, and it was those that truly distressed her. Not the yellow coin eyes of Martian life, but dark pits. The dark-eyed one noticed her, and raised one limb. Yotha curled her upper lip at that, not to sneer, but to expose her fangs: a threat. The strange one took no notice, and Yotha felt something approaching fear. The basic tenants of everything she knew was being violated. The creature was like none she had ever seen, or believed could exist. And not only that, it was prey acting as predator, raising a weapon...

It was a accurate shot—or a lucky one. Yotha sensed a blast of color and sound, but had no time to feel any pain; she was gone too quickly.

With little interest, the Earthman grunted at the creature he had felled. Then he moved on through the empty city. The Martian people had been destroyed by what the Humankind brought; for the other life on the red planet, it was only a matter of time.


End file.
